


Figure

by nagato



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Rating could possibly change as the story goes.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3847102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagato/pseuds/nagato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A nine year old Obito meets an eleven year old Nagato in Amegakure during the war. Obito was there for a mission, but couldn't find his team. Nagato lost track of his friends after they got separated by a battlefield they stumbled into. The two boys meet, both searching for their friends, and decide to stick together until they can find their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Alone, Nagato was completely alone. He was scared, his friends weren't anywhere nearby, and it didn't help that he was lost. He and his friends had accidentally been split up thanks to shinobi fighting dangerously close. Nagato didn't even know if they were alive or not, and that terrified him. His friends were the only people he had in his life after his parents died. He didn't even have Chibi with him, the small dog had died not too long ago, and that still hurt.

He didn't know what to do, or how to find his friends, he had already searched for what felt like hours. He was now wandering through a forest, trying to ignore the rain that kept pouring down. Even if he was used to it, he was getting cold. All he had on was his rain jacket, and it didn't keep him that warm. He was starting to lose hope, he was scared and tired. So instead of continuing to search and exhaust himself, he sat against a tree, pulling his knees up close to himself, trying to calm down.

But he was worried, scared of never seeing his friends again. Maybe searching for those Konoha shinobi was a bad idea, it caused this to happen.

As time passed, Nagato slowly let his worries get to him, fearing they were dead. The thought of it started to make him tear up, so close to crying. He was trying to be strong, but it was hard. It didn't take long before he was silently crying, curled up against the tree, hoping his friends were okay.

His crying was interrupted by the sound of rustling in the trees, and he automatically assumed it was a shinobi. This had happened before, seeing and hearing shinobi fight among the trees. He almost immediately stood up and looked up in the trees off in the distance, seeing a figure move in his direction. Nagato didn't know what he could do, so tried to run to a different tree to hide behind, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. He had no special training, how could he possibly know how to hide well?

A couple minutes passed and nothing happened, there was not a sound besides the rain hitting the ground. Just as Nagato was about to release a sigh of relief, he heard a shout and the sound of something hitting the ground behind the tree he was standing by. Nagato tensed up, almost letting out a startled sound, but quickly stopped himself, not daring to make a sound.

"Ow, ow, ow!" There were groans of pain from the other side of the tree, and Nagato couldn't help feeling a little concerned. Was...the other person okay?

He let his curiosity get the better of him and he peeked out from behind the tree. When he did, he saw a boy that was probably close to his age sitting on the ground, rubbing his head and cringing. Nagato almost stepped out to see if he was okay, but his eyes were almost immediately drawn to the headband on his forehead.  _Konoha._

He was frozen in place, remembering the day his parents died, and felt his fear only grow.  _Run, run!_ He screamed at himself, but just as he was about to, the boy turned his head and noticed Nagato. As soon as he noticed him, Nagato started to slowly back up, the expression of fear clear on his face.

"H-Hey! Don't leave!" The boy quickly stood up, still cringing a little from the lingering pain of the fall. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

Nagato stared at him, still nervous, not knowing why he'd tell him to stay. He swallowed quietly and tried to speak without showing how scared he really was.

"What...do you want?" Nagato's voice shook a little, his eyes still concentrated on the headband.

"I uh...heh, I was just hoping you know where this is." The black haired boy spoke a bit awkwardly, trying his best not to scare off the other kid.

 _Is...he lost too?_  The thought crossed Nagato's mind, and he forced himself to focus on the face of the boy he was talking to. He wore goggles over his eyes, had black, spiky hair. He...didn't seem too dangerous or violent like those Konoha shinobi that killed his parents.

"Um...I don't really know myself...Are you lost...?" He asked, still a little cautious about talking to him. At least he was keeping his distance.

The boy rubbed the back of his head, giving an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, I got separated from my team and I've been searching for them." Then he paused for a moment as if thinking. "Since you don't know either, you must be lost too huh?"

Nagato only gave a nod in response, not knowing what else he could say to him. He wondered if he should attempt to leave, still not entirely trusting him.

"Well, uh, if you're lost maybe you can come with me." The boy suggested, trying to be nice. Maybe he didn't want to be alone either.

Nagato had a cautious look on his face, staring at him silently. He knew he didn't want to be alone, and with a shinobi around, maybe he'd be a little safer. After a minute of silence, he finally spoke up again.

"Okay...I'm also searching for friends of mine..." He decided to tell him, hoping that maybe he could help him find his friends.

When he agreed, the other boy smiled more. "Then maybe we'll run into the people we're looking for! We can search together. Oh, right! My name is Uchiha Obito, sorry, I forgot to mention it."

"I'm Nagato..." He introduced himself quietly, trying to look at his face and ignore his headband.

"Okay Nagato, let's go!" Obito started to move away from that area, hoping that Nagato would follow.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Nagato started to follow after Obito, keeping a small distance from him. Though after a few minutes of silence, Obito broke the silence.

"So, how old are you anyway, Nagato?" He looked over at the redhead, trying to make him comfortable with some casual conversation.

"I'm eleven..." Nagato told him, and Obito had a shocked expression on his face.

"Really? You're older than me?" He let out a small laugh at that. "I'm nine." He then proudly pointed at his headband with a grin. "I've already graduated from the academy too. Cool, right?"

"Is it really so cool...?" Nagato didn't see how it was so great, he didn't really know much about the academy or what shinobi had to do to graduate.

Obito's grin dropped and then gained a small pout. "I had to work hard to graduate."

Seeing his smile drop made Nagato feel bad about what he said, not knowing it was so important to him. "I'm sorry...I didn't know..."

Obito didn't seem to dwell on it long, because his smile returned, just smaller than before. "It's okay. I still have to work towards chunin anyway." A slight scowl appeared on his face. "One of my team is already a chunin..."

"Is...that a bad thing...?" Nagato tilted his head in confusion and curiosity, not understand why it sounded bad.

"Not...bad, I just...I want to be a chunin too, and he's always getting so much attention." The scowl remained, along with a pout, but then he suddenly tried his best to smile. "But just you watch, I'll surpass him one day! I'll become a chunin, and then, next thing you know, I'll be Hokage!"

"Hokage...? What is that?"  _Must be someone important if he really wants to be one..._

"Oh, you don't know? The Hokage is the leader of Konoha, and one day, I'll become Hokage!" He nodded at his own declaration, his smile becoming more natural as he spoke about it.

He seemed so confident, and he sort of reminded him of Yahiko with his dreams. This made Nagato give a soft smile at him and say in a very quiet voice, "Well...I hope you become Hokage, Obito."

Obito seemed surprised at this, but he just grinned at him. "Just watch, I'll become Hokage! I promise you this!"

It was strange...Nagato was talking so normally with this boy he just met a few minutes ago. Maybe it was because he somewhat reminded him of Yahiko? Yahiko aimed high, and managed to even drag him into supporting his dream. If the Hokage was the leader of Konoha, maybe if Obito became Hokage, the village would be nicer?

He found himself sincerely hoping he would succeed.

* * *

Hours had passed, and the two boys had yet to find any sign of their friends. They had searched and searched, but found nothing but empty land, and by now, they were both freezing. They had managed to avoid getting completely soaked but as the sky turned dark, the rain got colder and the temperature dropped. Even the coat protecting Nagato and the cloak Obito had draped over himself couldn't protect them from the cold.

"I...think w-we should probably find some shelter." Obito said through chattering teeth. He was obviously not used to this weather, worse off than Nagato who had lived in it all his life, and even survived in it while living on the streets.

Nagato nodded in agreement, but he didn't know where they could stay. He knew this area, at least, he thought he did. Before he met Yahiko and Konan, he did have to wander everywhere, and if he remembered right, there should be a cave somewhere near by.

"Um...Obito...I think I know where we can take shelter..." He spoke up after a while, and pointed in a certain direction. "There should be a cave near by...Will that work?"

"Oh that would be great! I'd love to get out of this rain for a while. You go ahead and lead the way." Obito motioned for him to walk ahead, really wanting to get out of the rain that seemed to only pour down harder.

Nagato only nodded and walked ahead, hoping that he was going the right way. Fortunately, after a few minutes of walking, he spotted the cave entrance not too far away. Before he could say anything, Obito was already dashing towards it with speed that Nagato was not used to. Was that an advantage to being a trained shinobi? Even if he doubted he could keep up, Nagato ran after him.

It didn't take long for them to reach the cave, and they both rushed inside for cover. Though they couldn't go too deep into the cave, it was pitch black deeper in. Even if it was still cold in the cave, they had finally had a bit of relief from the rain pounding down on them.

Obito let out a content sigh, "Geez, how do you live with this every day?"

"Used to it..." The redhead shrugged, but was happy to get out of the rain as well. Just because he was used to it doesn't mean he didn't get sick of it every now and again.

"So, uh, I guess we're spending the night here, huh?" The Uchiha glanced around the cave, but could barely see inside. The outside was also becoming pitch black, making it hard for the two to see. "Too bad we didn't find this place sooner, we could of made a fire."

Nagato silently agreed. The night would be cold, and nights in Amegakure could be horrible. He knew from experience. He didn't know how they'd fare without any source of warmth, but hopefully they'd manage.

"Wait! Maybe if I can find a stick somewhere, I can make a torch! See, I know ninjutsu!" Obito suddenly exclaimed proudly, and began to feel around for some kind of stick on the ground.

Nagato watched him, not knowing much about ninjutsu, but hoped whatever he had in mind would work.

After a minute or so of searching, Obito perked up and held something up in the air. "Found one! It's a big stick too, should work! Stand back." He warned him, and Nagato moved a couple steps away, a little nervous.

Within the next seconds, a bright light came from Obito as he blew the fire onto the stick he was holding in his hand. The sight of the fire made Nagato jump, but the light was a welcome change. Though Obito did not think it that far through, since the fire quickly spread on the stick, consuming most of it, and making him drop it before he burnt himself.

"Oh! Oops...I...thought that would work." Obito muttered, a little embarrassed. The fire was still burning on the ground. It was fortunate the stick was large, but one barely lit the area, and would burn fast.

"I guess we better get ourselves comfortable while we can still see." Obito sighed, shrugging off the wet cloak, and sat against the cave wall near the degrading fire.

Nagato did the same, taking off his coat and sitting next to him. He pulled his legs close to himself, hoping to keep some warmth in by doing this.

The two of them sat there as they watched the fire disappear, leaving them both in complete darkness.

"You're still next to me right?" Obito asked, reaching out to check. His hand ended up on Nagato's shoulder, which caused him to flinch, but he relaxed after a moment.

"I am..." Even if he already knew now, Nagato answered anyway.

"Okay...just checking." The silence returned, and it was rather uncomfortable.

Nagato was used to sleeping with Yahiko and Konan, and the three of them would sometimes cuddle together to keep warm. He felt safe, comfortable with them. Where he was now, with a boy he just recently met and in the dark and freezing, was actually a bit terrifying. After having his friends for so long, it had become so odd to no longer have them with him. As he started to think about them, he started to tear up, but tried to hold it back. Crying wouldn't change anything.

The uncomfortable silence continued for some time, before Obito suddenly muttered. "We...should probably try to sleep right?"

"Yeah...we should." The redhead agreed, but wondered if he'd even be able to sleep in this situation. Despite this, he moved himself away from the wall and laid on the ground, trying to use his hands as pillows. He could hear Obito shuffling around to try and get comfortable on the hard ground. For Nagato, he was used to it, so it wasn't a big deal. But for Obito, Nagato was sure he lived more comfortably than he did.

The silence returned yet again, and the Nagato tried his best to sleep, but he felt too nervous to sleep. Not only was he nervous, he was cold, and that didn't help. Even with Yahiko and Konan, they usually had a fire to keep them warm. They really should have found shelter and prepared a fire sooner...

More time passed, and it felt like time was moving much slower than normal. Nagato shivered, curled up on a call on the ground, and was certain he could hear Obito shiver as well. Both of them were freezing, and it didn't make sleeping easy.

"Hey...Nagato." Obito spoke, his voice a little shaky from the cold. "You know...m-maybe we should, cuddle or something, you know, for warmth."

This surprised Nagato, not thinking that a shinobi would be trusting enough to allow a stranger close like that. Yes, it was to share body heat, but now Nagato was feeling nervous. He only trusted Yahiko and Konan, never anyone else. He didn't suspect Obito would try to harm him, but a small part of him kept screaming at him.  _He's a Konoha shinobi! He'll stab you, just like they did your parents! He's just making you feel safe, don't get-_ He tried his best to silence this voice yelling at him, too cold to even care.

"Okay..." He agreed. He really didn't want to freeze to death, and at this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if he got sick and died. He came close many times in the past.

He heard movement, and Obito was soon at his side, wrapping his arms around him, shivering. When Nagato felt this he wrapped his arm around him as well, just as he would with his friends. He could hear Obito's teeth chattering, his shivering, but as they kept close and shared body heat, the shivering died down.

Surprisingly, Nagato actually found himself relaxing. He thought he'd be uncomfortable and nervous the entire time, but as he the cold lessened, he relaxed. It was also nice having someone close, like he was used to. Even if he was a...no, he wouldn't think of that.

He was just Obito, the new person he met that day.

* * *

As the sun rose behind the clouds, the still raining sky started to brighten a little, breaking the pitch darkness. The two boys were still sleeping, still cuddling and keeping themselves warm. Nagato was the first to wake up, and when he first opened his eyes, he was a bit startled seeing someone besides his friends at his side, but quickly relaxed as he remembered who he was and where he was.

It was odd, waking up and not seeing his friends there. Had he really become so used to their presence? He wondered if they missed him too, if they were still alive.

No, he would not follow that line of thought. They were alive, they had to be. He just had to find them.

He glanced over at Obito, not wanting to wake him, so he carefully removed Obito's arms, which had fortunately mostly slipped off him during the night. After that, he looked over to the backpack lying on the ground, and started to look through it. As he did this, Obito slowly started to wake up from the lack of warmth he had throughout the night.

The younger boy let out a groan of discomfort and opened his eyes, looking over at Nagato. He rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn and then leaned against the wall. "Morning." He said in between a yawn.

"Morning..." Nagato replied without looking over at him, still looking through the backpack he had.

"What are you doing?" Obito asked, trying to look from where he was sitting.

"Getting food..." And as he said this, he pulled out a couple loaves of bread. He walked over to Obito and then held out one with a small smile. "Here...you can have one."

Obito blinked in surprise at the loaf, but then smiled and accepted the food. "Thanks! I was wondering what you had in that backpack."

"You're welcome." Nagato then sat back down and started to eat the loaf of bread he had for himself.

They didn't waste too much time eating. Right after they finished their small breakfast, they started searching once again. They both didn't want to waste too much time, and if it really did take another day, at least now they knew to find shelter and prepare a fire early.

* * *

"I can't believe we still haven't found them!" Obito let out a huff of annoyance as he saw the sky getting slightly darker. "Will it really take another day? Where could they have gone?"

"I don't know, but we should really find shelter while it is still light out..." Nagato hoped that this time they could maybe make a fire. If Obito could use that ninjutsu to make a lasting fire, it would be really useful.

"Got it. Do you know about any other caves?" Obito asked as he was looking around for one in the area.

"None that I can remember..." Nagato said, tone showing his disappointment in that fact.

"Well, no problem then! We'll just have to keep searching. I'm sure we'll find so-"

A sudden explosion cut Obito off, making the two boys jump in surprise. Obito instinctively got into a fighting stance, looking in the direction of the sound. There was a small wooded area not far from where they were, and smoke was seen coming from the area. Both Obito and Nagato immediately realized they were in a horrible spot, that a battle was going on.

"Come on, Nagato! We have to get out of here!" Obito grabbed Nagato's hand and started to run with him. Nagato didn't hesitate to follow, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure heading in their direction. Obito must have noticed it too, because he sped up, but running with someone who wasn't a trained shinobi slowed him down significantly.

However, what Obito didn't notice, was a kunai with a paper bomb strapped on it heading their way. Nagato noticed it, and within those few seconds, realized that if that hit them, they would most likely die. He recalled how Chibi died in the same way. He had so little time to react, he couldn't call out to Obito, and so he had to act suddenly.

He stopped running and then grabbed onto Obito and held him close as his eyes opened and his Rinnegan activated. A sort of shield appeared around them, but it wasn't strong enough to completely protect from from the bomb going off. They both went flying back, and landed harshly on the ground below them. Unfortunately for Nagato, he took the full brunt of the explosion, and when he landed, he was knocked unconscious.

Obito, who was stunned and shocked, tried to quickly process what just happened. He looked over to Nagato and noticed he was out cold, and internally started to panic. He had to move, they had to get out of there before they were attacked again! He could figure out what Nagato did later, for now, they had to run.

He scooped Nagato up into the arms to the best of his ability, glad that Nagato wasn't too heavy, even for him, and he wasn't too strong. Right now he was really happy all his training was paying off right now. Once he had Nagato in his arms, he started to run as fast as he could. To where? He didn't know, just somewhere that wasn't out in the open, that was the worst place to be right now.

Obito ran and ran, getting tired faster than he thought he would, but as soon as they made it to a different part of the woods that was well covered, he stopped running. He panted as he looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms, making sure that he was okay before he scanned the area around them. It was quiet, and hopefully safe.

The Uchiha let out a long, exhausted sigh. He set Nagato down against a tree and then collapsed against the same tree at his side. Fortunately, the trees shielded them from the rain. This would probably be where they would have to stay for the night.

After he was done catching his breath, Obito looked over at Nagato worriedly. He could still see him breathing, so that was a good sign, but he was still unconscious. He didn't want to risk leaving his side, but he knew he had to get some wood for a fire. They couldn't have another night like before. It would be even worse without a fire since there were no walls to keep some heat inside.

He stood up and glanced at Nagato once more before he went off to find wood. He hoped he wouldn't have to wander too far off.

After about thirty or so minutes of searching, Obito managed to find a decent amount of dry sticks they could use for a fire. He didn't know how long it would last, but he hoped it would last through the night. When he returned to the area where he left Nagato, he set the sticks up in a pile, then used his fire style ninjutsu to light it. The feeling of warmth was nice, and very much welcome.

Before he stood up to move back to Nagato's side, he heard a quiet groan and looked up to see Nagato waking.

"Oh! Nagato, are you-" He didn't finish his sentence. He was momentarily stunned by what he was seeing. Nagato's hair that had been in his eyes this entire time had moved to the side, allowing one of his eyes to show.

Obito had never seen eyes like those before, and found himself staring at his eye. They were purple, but that wasn't odd, what was most odd was the ripple pattern going around his entire eye, leaving no white. No one he knew had eyes like those, he had never even heard of eyes with that sort of pattern.

As Nagato was gaining consciousness, he noticed Obito's staring, and rather dizzily spoke. "Obito...what happened...?" Obviously not knowing why exactly Obito was staring like that.

The Uchiha snapped out of his little trance and tried his best to ignore the unique eyes. "Oh, uh, you got knocked out. I got us to safety though, so don't worry! You're okay." He forced a bit of a grin, trying to hide any previous signs of surprise.

Nagato didn't seem to notice, too disoriented to study into it. He also didn't seem to notice that his bangs were no longer in his eyes, but he did notice the fire.

"You made a fire..." He noted as he stared into the new source of light and heat.

"Yeah! I thought it would be a good idea, you know?" Obito's smile slowly became more natural. He moved over to sit next to Nagato, glad that the redhead was okay.

Nagato hummed in agreement and leaned his head against the tree behind himself, too tired and dizzy to think much.

"Hey, maybe you should get some sleep, Nagato." He suggested, knowing they both needed some sleep to recover from that exciting day.

The boy didn't even answer, just closing his eyes again and almost instantly falling asleep.

Obito sat there for a while, just staring at the fire and watching Nagato. He didn't fall asleep right away, and spent some time throwing more sticks on the fire to give it a better chance of lasting them for the night. He knew it probably wouldn't last, and so, he just did what he did last night. He pulled Nagato closer, but he did so more gently than before, afraid of waking him. Though honestly, he didn't just want warmth from Nagato doing this. He was feeling just a little protective...Even if he hadn't known the older boy for long, he didn't want to lose him. He...felt like he wanted to protect him.

 _But he was the one who protected you._ The thought popped into Obito's head, and he knew it was true. How would he protect Rin and the entire village one day? He had to get stronger, that was that. He did, after all, promise Nagato he would become Hokage. A Hokage had to be strong, and strong he would become.

With that thought in mind, he slowly let himself fade into sleep, still holding onto Nagato as he sat against the tree.

* * *

The sound of rustling tree branches and leaves startled Obito awake, and caused him jerk and wake Nagato up in the process. He hadn't realized he'd been so tense that that small of a sound could wake him up, but Obito knew someone was close.

He stood up, letting go of Nagato and pulled out a kunai defensively, not wanting a repeat of yesterday. Nagato, stood up drowsily, but tried his best to wake up and pay attention, even if he didn't know why Obito woke so suddenly.

"Hey, you don't have to raise a weapon, it's fine, Obito." A voice familiar to only Obito said suddenly.

Obito looked in the direction of the voice, and his eyes went wide when he saw Minato, along with Rin, and the irritating Kakashi. With them were also three children that were unfamiliar to Obito, but by Nagato's sudden smile, they must have been familiar to him.

"Minato-sensei!" Obito smiled at the sight of him and Rin, but definitely not Kakashi. He was definitely not happen to see that jerk.

"Nagato!" Konan had called out to the redhead, running over to him and hugging him. Yahiko followed after her, but didn't hug Nagato like she did.

"You gave us a scare, you know that right, Nagato?" Yahiko had a small smile on, but he was obviously more relieved than he was letting on.

"I'm sorry, but, I'm so glad you two are okay." Nagato had tears welling up in his eyes. He was so happy, happier than anyone else in the area could probably understand. The two that made up his world were back and safe with him.

"Are you hurt?" Rin asked the Uchiha who was talking to his teammates, explaining to them about how he was late then couldn't find them.

"Oh, no, I'm fine! Thanks for worrying about me though, Rin." Obito felt happy as well, knowing that Rin was worried about him. He glared at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye, but mainly focused on the girl in front of him.

Minato spoke up after everyone had seen each other again, clearing his throat. "We found these two while looking for you, Obito. We got really lucky that you both were together."

"We did manage to survive, sensei!" Obito crossed his arms, acting proud of living for the two days. Minato only smiled at Obito, but went back to a more serious topic.

"I'm happy that we were able to all get back together, but we still have our mission to complete. We had to put in on hold searching for you."

"And this is why you shouldn't be late." Kakashi spoke up, which caused Obito to narrow his eyes, and before he could yell at him, Minato started talking again.

"So we need to get going now, and start working on that mission. Say your goodbyes and then let's leave."

At his words, Obito and Nagato looked over at each other, knowing that this was where they parted ways. They both walked away from their group and stood in front of each other. Obito put on his best smile, knowing that this could possibly be the last time he saw Nagato.

"Hey, thanks for sticking with me this whole time. I really do hope we can meet again one day." He was honest about that. He wanted to return one day to see him again. Within the two days they had known each other, he felt like he had made a new friend, someone who supported his dreams.

"I should be thanking you...You were a big a help. I would like to see you again too, maybe we will." Nagato spoke in a tone a little louder than he normally did, something he reserved for only his friends. He saw Obito as a friend, and hoped he felt the same.

"Well, I guess I'll see you whenever that day comes?" If it did.

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Nagato gave a small smile to him, but both boys knew that the chance they'd meet again would be slim. And if they did meet again...they may not meet again in good circumstances, not with the war going on.

"Bye..." Obito waved to Nagato and then ran off with his team, only looking back once to make sure that Nagato was still there, and told himself to remember what he looked like.

Nagato said nothing, just waved as he watched the boy leave. He turned his back away from that direction, and looked back at the two friends that meant everything to him.

As long as he had these two, he'd be fine. He'd be happy.

But he still hoped that one day, they'd meet again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter, and I wrote this at 6am, so if there are any typos or improper grammar, it was because of that. I did proofread it, but proofreading at 6am probably doesn't work well. Anyway, each chapter will be certain points in their life, you'll notice that as it goes. Anyway, thank you for reading and moving onto this second chapter!

Four years had passed since that day. So much had happened since Nagato met the boy who dreamed of becoming Hokage. After Nagato found his friends again, the three had continued their search for the three shinobi who fought Hanzo and survived. They were far more cautious this time around, too worried about getting separated again. They still managed to the find the three shinobi who were named Sannin by Hanzo. To their surprise, they were taken in by one of the three, Jiraiya. Even if he didn't train them at first, he eventually did, but only thanks to Nagato's lack of control with his Rinnegan. Even now, Nagato still thought back to how little control he had over his Rinnegan. If it hadn't been for Jiraiya, who knows, he could have eventually hurt his friends. A thought that terrified him.

Jiraiya only trained them for three years, and left after those three years passed. Even if it felt so odd, being without their sensei, they moved on. Once they had power, Yahiko declared that they would help the villages in Ame that needed their help. From then, the three orphans started to protect the villages in need, protecting them from attacks, helping them get food, and doing anything they could to help.

This day was just another normal day. The three orphans heard of a village suffering attacks from fellow Ame shinobi, and as soon as they heard about it, they started heading there. Before they arrived there, they stopped to rest and discuss what they would do when they arrived. However, their little discussion was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The three of them turned around the moment they heard them, all on the defensive almost immediately.

When they looked, there were a couple people standing there, but they couldn't see the face of oneface. It was covered by something white that seemed as thought it was connected throughout his entire boy. Though they couldn't see his entire body, since he was wearing a cloak, but the only thing they could see from him, was an eye. A single, red eye looking at them through the hole in what they could consider a mask.

The other had a black and white face, the colors split down the middle. A large, venus flytrap attached to him. He was obviously not human.

"Who are you?" Yahiko demanded, keeping a serious look on his face.

"Madara Uchiha."

The three of them tensed up a little, but Yahiko gave a small grin.

"You're either a criminal or an idiot to think you can get away with calling yourself Madara Uchiha." He straightened up and gave a serious look at the mysterious man. "So, what do you want from us?"

The masked man was silent for only a moment before looking over at Nagato, who flinched when he realized he was looking at him, and not Yahiko who asked the question.

"The Rinnegan...it is our job to help nurture the power of the one who possesses it."

Nagato's eyes widened a little at the mention of the Rinnegan. "You know about my eyes?"

The masked man's arm lifted and he pointed at the redhead. "You will be the one to bring peace to the world, that is what you were destined to do. That is why you awakened to the Rinnegan." He stopped pointing and inside held out his open hand to Nagato. "Join me. You want a world of peace, right? With my help, you could create a world with no more war or conflict. All you have to do is come with me, and we'll make your dreams come true."

Peace...that was all he and his friends desired. He spoke as though he knew so much about the Rinnegan. Could...he help him unlock even more of its secrets? Nagato only managed to move a step forward before an arm was put in front of him. When he looked, he noticed Yahiko had stopped him, and was now glaring at the man.

"Your offer sounds too good to be true. Besides, peace can't be obtained that way. Peace will only happen once we shed the same tears as our enemies."

"Shed the same tears? You mean revenge?" The masked man's voice had a hint of disbelief in its tone.

"No, not revenge. In mutual understanding. If we can acknowledge the enemy's pain, then we can come to an understanding and stop the fighting."

Nagato stood there, listening to Yahiko so confidently speak about his goals. As he spoke, he remembered why he believed in Yahiko and his dream...How could he have almost left his side? It made him sick to think he'd leave his side for something that was probably a lie.

"Stop being so idealistic. Not everyone desires peace, and in this world, peace is impossible." The tone that had originally been so calm seemed to gain some kind of bitterness to it.

Yahiko said nothing more to him, turning away from him and started to walk away. "Nagato, Konan, we're leaving." He glanced back over at the masked man with narrowed eyes. "Don't approach us again."

Konan followed after Yahiko, and Nagato started to after a moment of hesitance, but as he walked by the man, he heard him speak to him in a quiet voice.

"I'll be here at the same time every day in case you change your mind. One day...you'll understand."

Nagato paused for only a second, before following his friends, telling himself not to listen. He believed in Yahiko and his ideals, this stranger would not convince him.

* * *

"Yahiko...I'm sorry." Nagato spoke up when they were far away from the spot they met that man.

"What?" Yahiko looked back at Nagato, his expression clearly confused.

"I almost gave in and listened to him, I could have easily betrayed you there...So...I'm sorry." Nagato was looking down at the ground, angry at himself. He believed in his friends, and he was there to be Yahiko's support.

Yahiko and Konan looked at each other and said nothing at first. Nagato stood there, waiting for a response, but was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and was greeted with a bright smile on Yahiko's face. The shock on his face must have been obvious because Yahiko gave a gentle chuckle.

"Nagato, I know you would never actually go with him. I guess I just got a little protective, I didn't mean for you to think I didn't trust you." The grip on his shoulder tightened. "We've been together for years. I know you would never leave us. We are friends after all."

The redhead stared at his friend, looking into blue eyes that screamed nothing but genuine belief in his best friend. He was sure that if he told him this when he was younger, he'd be crying. But now, he just gave him his own bright smile.

"Thank you,Yahiko...I'll always support you and Konan, I'll always believe in your dreams." His hand went onto his friend's shoulder, gripping it. "I'll never leave you two."

Yahiko, for just a moment, seemed to be tearing up before he quickly looked away with a small pout.

"Come on, don't make this even sappier, Nagato." But nonetheless, the grin remained on his face.

Nagato let out a small laugh in response, grinning right back at his friend. He was happy right here, with the two people that meant the world to him. He would protect them, he would stay by their side, and he would never leave them.

That was all he wanted.

* * *

_Nagato, why are you inviting pain into your life? The way things are going, you'll suffer if you continue on this path._

Obito frowned as he sat on a rock, still in the same place the three orphans. The white around his head now open, revealing his face.

" **It seems your first idea didn't work, Obito."** Black Zetsu spoke, and he sounded annoyed that they couldn't get him to join right away.

"He will realize in time. He now knows there is something else for him once he experiences pain." Instead of the deep voice that spoke before, his voice cracked, and had a higher pitch. He was using his actual voice, which was experiencing puberty at that point in time.

It had been years since Obito had last seen Nagato. When he was getting the information from Zetsu about who Madara gave his Rinnegan to, he was surprised to learn about it being Nagato. Even after all those years, he still remembered him. Nagato was one of the very few people who actually supported his dream to become Hokage, how could he forget that?

He probably would have felt more excited about seeing Nagato again if it wasn't under these circumstances. He couldn't let Nagato know who he truly was, that would ruin everything. If only they had met a little earlier...

"So are we going to follow him? We don't have anything to do until you come back to this spot again tomorrow!" Spiral's voice echoed from the material covering Obito's entire body.

"Yes...we're going to follow him. We have to be there when he sees the true nature of this world." Obito stood up, Spiral wrapping back around his head. Obito warped elsewhere, Zetsu fading into the ground, following him.

* * *

So much happened within the next few weeks.

While at a village protecting it, Yahiko's words had inspired a few rogue Ame shinobi to join their cause, even admitting that they were sick of the war. They finally had other people supporting them and their ideals! Nagato could still remember the pride on Yahiko's face as he named the organization.

"How about...Akatsuki?" His smile was hopeful, showing confidence in their future now that they were able to gain more comrades.

Nagato and Konan had smiled at each other, then their friend, happily agreeing. Their new comrades cheerfully agreed, everyone so cheerful, seeing nothing but good things in their future.

One event did depress Nagato somewhat, and that was leaving their home. After so many years of living there, just the three of them, it hurt. But since more people were joining them, they would need a new base of operations that could hold everyone in the group. It was a sad day, but one also filled with hope in the future. They agreed that they would return there one day when they succeeded, and even invite Jiraiya-sensei to celebrate with them. That future sounded perfect to them, so they could leave their former home, knowing that they would one day return.

After that, they managed to find a new place within the village itself. Having more members in the group meant more connections, so they were able to move into a base inside of Amegakure. This place made it easier to get messages from other villages in the country that needed their help. The requests for aid piled up, but they always got to them as soon as possible.

Today was just like any other. They got a request in a certain area, and Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato all personally went there along with a couple other members. They had stopped somewhere to discuss their next plans to help the villages when one of the members of Akatsuki walked over to them, a concerned look on his face.

"Yahiko, we got reports from a near by village that they were attacked. The village has been destroyed and we don't know if there are any survivors."

Immediately, the three orphans stood up from their seats and looked at each other. Their looks grew serious at this news, and they knew that they couldn't just let this rest. He asked where the village was, and once he got that information, he nodded, thankful that they even had the location of the village, and that they didn't lose the one who scouted around.

"Thank you for telling us, we'll go check it out. You two keep keep things under control here and be ready to respond to anyone who may need help."

"Got it!" The two members that had traveled with them nodded, listening to Yahiko without hesitation.

"Come on, let's go." Yahiko looked to his two friends, who nodded and followed Yahiko towards the place mentioned.

When they arrived, they found the village in ruins. Roofs with gaping holes in them, homes crumbling to the ground. The houses had been emptied, furniture destroyed and blood stains were everywhere inside the homes.

"How horrible..." Konan said in a soft voice that had a hint of anger to it.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Nagato had a similar tone to his voice, but his held more disgust than Konan's. His own small village had been destroyed like this, and it sickened him to see it happen to someone else.

A sudden  _crack_  caused them to jump and quickly move into defensive positions next to each other. Their eyes shot straight to the spot where they were certain the sound came from.

"Who's there!?" Yahiko shouted, hands up, ready to defend himself if necessary.

But what they saw next lowered their guard. They saw people, survivors from the attack on the village. They looked tired, oh so tired, but yet oh so angry all the same. They held weapons in their hand. None of these weapons seemed specially made, and none of these civilians seemed like trained shinobi.

"Who are you?" One of the villagers asked, holding a sword up in caution.

"Akatsuki." Yahiko said, taking on a more professional voice. "Who did this?"

"Akatsuki?" The villagers all stared at each other in confusion, clueless about who they were. They seemed to talk amongst themselves quietly for a while, deciding if they could trust them or not. When they finally decided, the same man as before spoke again. "Iwagakure."

"Iwagakure?" Nagato looked to Yahiko in surprise. "But I thought they were in the process of making a treaty with Konohagakure!"

"Who cares about that!? They attacked us, and that is all that matters!" The villager yelled, enraged, and obviously not thinking so clearly.

"What do you plan to do with those weapons?" Yahiko's gaze moved to the weapons in their hands, and he knew just by looking at them that there was no way they could win in a fight against trained shinobi with those weapons.

"Fight! What else? We can't just sit here and let them get away with what they've done!" The other villagers all made sounds of agreement, they gripped their weapons tighter, determined to get their revenge.

"Wait, you can't do that! I'm not saying that you should wait, but we should try to talk to them first!" Yahiko tried his best to calm them down, not wanting to put them in danger.

"Talk to them? What do you think that will accomplish!?"

"If we talk to them, then we can try and understand their pain, and then they will stop attacking." Yahiko explained, so confident in how he viewed the world, but the villager disagreed.

"Understand their pain! That doesn't matter here! You can't seriously be that idealistic! They killed our friends, our family, and you want us to just forgive them and understand what  _they've_  been through!?"

For just a moment, Nagato thought he saw a flicker of doubt on Yahiko's face, something he didn't see very often. Nagato understood the villager's anger, he really did, but death would just bring more death.. They couldn't let that happen.

"We'll go talk to them, just please, stay here. We'll make sure they won't attack you again." After Yahiko said that, as if in sync, the three orphans ran off to find the Iwagakure shinobi that attacked them.

This made no sense! Why would they attack while in the middle of making a treaty? Were they maybe a group of shinobi that didn't want peace? That baffled Nagato, he didn't understand why someone would be so against peace among the nations. He just hoped that they could convince them to stop, appeal to their own suffering so that no one else would have to die.

As they jumped through trees, they soon found an area with rock walls that reached high above them. The area was closed off, and almost instantly did they realize it was a trap. As a paper bomb headed their way, Yahiko yelled at them to scatter, and they did the moment he said it. Shinobi was Iwagakure appeared seemingly from nowhere, but they had only been blending into the rocks.

"Shit, they were waiting to ambush us!" Yahiko dodged an incoming attack, and he refrained from pulling out his weapon, trying to rely on hand-to-hand combat for now. "Wait, we're not here to fight! We are shinobi from Amegakure, and we just want to talk!" But they didn't listen. More of them surrounded Yahiko, attacking him, trying to wound him while Yahiko had to avoid harming them.

"What should we do, Yahiko!?" Konan called to him from a small distance away, trying to keep shinobi from getting too close to her. While Nagato tried to keep them away by throwing them back, but managed not to harm them.

"Our goal is negotiation at all costs, don't kill them!" Yahiko continued to fight using only his fists, fortunately only giving them a few bruises in the process of fighting them. However, as one shinobi rushed at him, he instinctively grabbed a kunai, and before he could realize what he had done, he felt blood drip onto his hand.

With wide eyes, Yahiko looked down at the man who had charged him. His eyes were wide, mouth open and the knife was stabbed through his chest. He fell to the ground, the kunai slipping out of Yahiko's hand. The Akatsuki leader looked at the corpse in horror, his face going pale. He didn't even notice the shinobi coming at him from behind.

"Yahiko!" Konan rushed in front of him, taking the brunt of the hit, but it caused them both to fly back and land on the ground. Both hurt and unable to react fast enough to stop the dozens of shinobi rushing towards them.

When Nagato looked to see how his friends were doing, his eyes widened in horror. He suddenly felt like he couldn't breath, like he was going to puke then and there.  _No, no no no no no no!_ They were in danger, his two dear friends were in grave danger. Time felt like it froze, nothing felt real as the realization that his friends could easily die there sunk in.

They could die just as easily as his parents.

" _Run Nagato! Hurry!"_ They had cried out to him, wanting him to save himself, but how could he?

" _Get your hands off her!"_ Yahiko screamed as he rammed his body into the Iwagakure shinobi, who easily knocked the boy over. He had grinned as he pulled out his sword, so ready and willing to take a precious friend from him.

_No, no no no no no no no NO! You won't take them from me, you won't, I won't let you, they are my world, they are...they are-..._

* * *

"...to...Naga...to...Nagato!" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and when he looked up, he saw Yahiko. His blue eyes staring down at him, his hands gripping on his shoulders as he held him to the ground.

_No, no! You're still in danger, you're still!_ Nagato struggled in his grasp, trying to move. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel. He could see, and he remembered what he saw. They were in danger!

"Calm down, Nagato!" Two voices screamed, and a second familiar face appeared in his view. Why were they both...they had just been...

"Y...Yahiko..." Nagato managed to speak, but after that, there was nothing. Everything around him went black, and the voices of his two dear friends faded away.

* * *

"Gah!" Nagato shot up from his rest, arm stretched out in front of him. Sweat dripped from his face, he could feel his heart beating at a rapid pace against his chest, his breathing was quick and urgent.

_Where...where are...Where am..._  His vision was blurry, he couldn't see right. He was too panicked, he needed to calm down. He couldn't figure out what happened if he didn't calm down...

As he allowed himself to take slower breaths, he looked at his surroundings. This was...a wooden cabin. He'd been here before. It was somewhere on the border of Ame that had plenty of nature and beautiful scenery. It had some nice memories to it, and this cabin had been abandoned when they found it before, a perfect place to stay.

But...why was he here? He remembered talking to the villagers, being ambushed and then...and...then...

_Corpses, corpses were everywhere. All his fault, all of these deaths were **his**  fault, but they had hurt them! They had hurt the ones who meant the most to him! But the corpses...why were there so many...why did he..._

Nagato gripped his head as the memory came back to him, and he felt ready to vomit. No, he had to calm down, just calm down! His hands moved his his head to his arms as he gripped onto himself, leaning forward and trying to push away the sickness he was feeling. He felt weak, emotionally and physically drained, and he still didn't know where his friends were...

"You really can't control your powers, can you, Nagato?"

The voice startled him out of his little panic and when he looked to the side, he saw  _Madara_ leaning against the wall where Nagato was positive no one was before. His body froze, his eyes just as wide as they had been this entire time.

"Y-You're...but what are you..." Nagato narrowed his eyes and tried to give a serious look, but he only managed to look vulnerable, weak in this state.

"I came to talk to you. I saw what happened. You don't have a strong control over the powers of the Rinnegan, do you?" Nagato could see the red eye looking down at him from behind the "mask."

"I-I...can control it well enough..."  _Oh yes, because that didn't sound pathetic at all. Way to make a point._ He knew that he was not in good enough condition to come up with something good to say.

"No, you can't." He stated bluntly. "That is why you need to join me, so that you can use that power for something-"

"Wait..." Nagato interrupted, a thought occurring to him. "You're here...but my friends aren't..." What if...to get to him...he...? He looked to the masked man with sudden rage showing in his expression. "You...you did something to them, didn't you?"

"I-"

He couldn't even get a second word in, Nagato was already standing and trying to attack him. Madara seemed ready to defend, but as soon as he stood and tried to walk, Nagato felt weak in his legs. He stumbled, and before he could even try to attack him, he fell forward. His legs couldn't handle the movement, not after all his body had been through.

Nagato expected to hit the hard ground, but slowly realized that he was instead being held up. The masked man had two hands on his chest, keeping him up from falling down. He pushed Nagato back up to his feet and grabbed both his shoulders, keeping him steady.

"Nagato, are you o-"

The redhead panicked and used one of the Rinnegan's powers to repel Madara away, but the recoil from it caused Nagato to fall backwards and land on his back and head. He let out a groan of pain from the ground, his body incredibly sensitive to the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to endure it.

He heard footsteps, and when he opened his eyes, he could see the one red eye staring down at him through the hole. But...for some reason, it almost looked as though the eye held...concern for him? No, it was probably his mind playing tricks on him, his mind was in an unstable condition.

Nagato tried to sit up, to move, but when he found that he couldn't, fear slowly started to set in. His body had already weak, now he had hurt himself unintentionally. He couldn't bring his body to move, and he could barely keep his eyes open. He had so little chakra, whatever he had done with these eyes had drained him. How long had he even been out before? How long would he be out again? Or...would the masked man kill him, or take him away to use his Rinnegan? He couldn't do anything, and the reality of it terrified him.

When he felt hands touch his side, he forced his slightly blurry vision to focus on the masked man. He was doing something, this would be the end. He wouldn't see his friends again, if only he hadn't attacked, if only... _Wait..._ Nagato's thoughts stopped as he felt a pillow under his head, and a blanket pulled over him. The masked man's voice, though distant, was clear when it spoke.

"Your friends are fine, they are outside. I recommend getting some rest, you'll need it." The now blurry figure of the man stood up after saying this, and then seemed to fade away.

_He...my friends...they are...okay? Why did..._  He could barely think, he was losing consciousness fast. He only managed to think of one last thing before he slipped into a deep sleep.

_Why did he help me...?_

When he next woke, Nagato saw that he was in the same wooden cabin as before. Nothing had changed. He was in the same makeshift bed made from blankets, the same cabin, and in the same clothes. The biggest difference was that he felt far better than he had before. He could tell his chakra levels were back to normal. Rest really had been what he needed.

He pulled himself out from under the blankets and stood up, finding it far easier to do so than before. He looked around and saw that his friends still weren't there, but he calmed himself down and knew that they had to be around there somewhere. He could sense them, but not very well since he wasn't perfectly trained in his sensory abilities. They were still alive, and not far from here.

As he looked around, he noticed his cloak hanging up on the wall. A sudden thirst took over him as he remembered that he had been sleeping for who knows how long without having any food or water. He knew this area, there was a pond with good drinking water not far. With that in mind, he grabbed his cloak, threw it on, and exited the cabin.

Outside, there was nothing but nature. It was a beautiful area. Trees surrounded the area, the grass was a healthy green, and the warm air outside felt nice against his face. He looked around and walked in the direction he knew the pond was in by memory. His memory turned out to be correct since he found the pond only after a couple minutes of walking. The water was clear, clean, and drinkable.

He knelt down at the pond and cupped his hands, filling them with water and drank the water he collected. He repeated this multiple times, the cool water running down his dry throat felt nice, soothing. After he had enough, he let out a content sigh then looked at his surroundings again. It was peaceful there, and it wasn't raining. It was nice to get out of the rain for a while, to feel the sun. These moments were rare...

As he sat there on his knees, he slowly started to think about why they were even there. He knew this wasn't where they were going to head, so it must have been because of him...He felt horrible. If he had never lost control of himself like that, they wouldn't be here. He wouldn't have been useless for so long.

He couldn't go find his friends, not yet. He slowly stood up and walked away. To where? He didn't know, just somewhere he could think. He found a rock, and sat up against it. He pulled his knees to his chest and looked at the river in front of him. It was quiet, peaceful, but he couldn't enjoy it anymore.

After a few minutes of sitting there, he heard frantic footsteps heading his way. He glanced to the side for only a second and he knew that Konan was standing just a few feet away, looking for him. She was there, but Yahiko was not.

"Konan, where's Yahiko?" He spoke up, not taking his eyes off the river in front of him.

He could hear her sigh of relief and heard her sit down next to him. "He went to go get food."

"Oh...I see..."

"What's wrong?" She went right to asking him this, able to read Nagato as if he was a book she had read many times over and over again. Not that Nagato usually tried to be secretive with them, he was always open with them.

Nagato looked at her for a moment, frowned, then looked forward again. "I'm...scared of myself." He admitted, a pained look on his face.

"Nagato..."

"I...thought I had my powers under control, I thought that they would be fine. But...now that Jiraiya-sensei's not here, I think I have less control. He...knew how to control it, I don't. It scares me that I have this power I can't control...I...don't want to hurt anyone." He said everything he felt, he held nothing back. He would never hide his feelings from his dear friend.

"It's true that sensei isn't here anymore..." He felt a hand touch his, and this caused him to look over at her smiling face. "But we're here for you, we'll control your power for you."

"Konan..." He lightly blushed at her words. How could he have forgotten? He had them. As long as he had them...he knew that he would eventually learn to control them completely. His hand moved to hold hers in his, smiling as he did so. Yes, everything would be just fine.

* * *

How did everything gone so wrong?

The day started out perfect. It had just been another normal wekk, except for the fact that the members had started to feel anxious. They wanted to do more for people, but they couldn't. It never felt like they were making any progress, and Yahiko felt incompetent as a leader. But just before Yahiko could try to pass leadership down to Nagato, a messenger from Hanzo had appeared.

The excited looks on everyone's faces had been an amazing sight. They cried, they cheered, or some both cried and cheered. They had been recognized by Hanzo, and he wanted to cooperate with the Akatsuki. They made an alliance with him, and he wanted them to help negotiate peace with the five great nations. They had a meeting with him that day to work on the negotiations, and Nagato and Yahiko would be the only two to go, not wanting to startle anyone by coming with multiple people.

Yahiko had declared that day a day for celebration, and everyone ate a feast and partied. Nagato had enjoyed it, but managed to slip away after everyone else partied themselves to sleep. He smiled as he stepped out onto the balcony. It was a shame that Konan was on a mission elsewhere, she would have loved to join in the festivities. He stared out at the village from the balcony, feeling content, satisfied with how things were going.

"We're almost there..." Nagato whispered to himself with a smile.

"It's naive to think that way, Nagato."

A voice that had been becoming too familiar as of late spoke up, and the sound of it made Nagato jump and turn around, eyes narrowing. There he was, standing on the balcony as if it was some kind of casual meeting.

"You're-"

"Everything is happening so quickly. Nagato, now is your last chance. Join me, and you'll be able to avoid to the coming pain." The masked man spoke with a business like tone, but yet his words sounded almost...concerned. No, he just wanted his eyes, he was concerned about the Rinnegan.

"What are you talking about? Things are going well, I don't need whatever you have to offer." Nagato shook his head at him. The coming pain? No, there was nothing bad going to happen. Everything was going perfectly, the day was filled with joy. Why did he have to come here and try and ruin it?

"Nagato, things are not always what they seem. Yahiko's ideals are foolish, and there can never truly be the peace he desires. You know this, Nagato. As someone who possesses the Rinnegan, surely you see more and can understand why you should join me." He spoke on, trying to get Nagato to join him now, even on his perfect day.

"No, I'm not going to listen to you. No matter what you say, I believe in Yahiko's ideals!" And he meant that. He was Yahiko's support, and this masked man would not convince him to leave his side.

The single red eye narrowed, and he just seemed irritated. "You don't yet understand, that's fine, you will soon. Go then, go and see what this world really is with your own eyes. Then, and only then, will you know what I mean." After leaving him with these words, he started warped away, leaving Nagato there in a confused state.

He had some odd powers, he had just vanished after what seemed like sucking himself into a hole, and disappearing.

"Hey, Nagato, everything okay out here?"

The comfortable, familiar voice snapped him out of his small trance.

"Was there someone out here?" Yahiko asked as he walked closer to his redheaded friend.

"No..." He answered immediately, and he didn't know why he lied. Why would he lie to Yahiko? Because he didn't want him to worry? Whatever the reason, he didn't take it back. He could see the look of doubt on Yahiko's face, but it had quickly fade away and and he gave a smile.

"We have to go meet Hanzo, so, let's go, Nagato." Yahiko smiled confidently at him, and Nagato gave a smile in return.

"Right!"

Oh but he should have listened to the masked man, he should have.

* * *

_This can't be real, this...can't be real._ Nagato kept repeating the words over and over to himself. He sat on the hard ground, arms holding the body of his precious friend close. He didn't pay attention to any other corpse in the area filled with them, just this one. No, those other ones didn't matter, it was their fault.  _Their_ fault he was dead! They had deserved to die, they did this to him!

He could barely even remember what had happened...it had all been such a blur...The moment Yahiko's body hit the ground, he lost it, and he was fully aware that it happened. He knew what he was doing, and he allowed it. When it was all over, and everyone was dead, he felt an immense satisfaction. But after that faded, there was nothing but agony. Pure agony. He had screamed, sobbed, and broken down on the ground. The day have been so perfect, and it had turned into his worst nightmare within just a few hours.

Now here he was, clutching Yahiko's body and holding it close, not caring about the blood staining his own clothing.

Konan had already left to get the others, but she had already cried over Yahiko. She cried until she could no longer. Nagato couldn't move, his legs horribly burned, but even if he could, he wouldn't. He would stay here and wait for Konan to return with everyone else. He would stay there with Yahiko, the one who was his world, the one who didn't let him make a choice, his best friend.

"Do you see now? This world holds nothing but despair and death."

The voice didn't surprise him anymore, he barely even paid attention, but he could hear the words he spoke. He didn't bother to look up, knowing who it was. When Nagato didn't react or say anything, he continued speaking.

"I tried to warn you, Nagato. This is what you could have avoided, but you were too caught up in his ideals to think about it. What will you do now? You wouldn't continue with a failed dream would you?"

_A failed dream..._  Yes, this all happened because Yahiko wanted to solve things peacefully. It...had never been the right way to do things. No, people didn't want peace, they wanted conflict, they wanted death, they wanted people to  _suffer_. Humans were such cruel creatures...

"I...don't k-know what to do..." Nagato spoke in such a small voice, just barely above a whisper. His voice cracked as he tried to hold back his sobs.

"Then join me. Nagato...I will promise you this. When we create a new, better world, he will be there. I promise this, as long as you join me."

_Join him..._  He let out a quiet, bitter laugh at those words. After all this, would he really join him? After all those words he yelled at him, all those things he said full of confidence and belief. All of that had been crushed, there was nothing left for him to believe, except for this.

Nagato slowly laid Yahiko down on the ground, and before Madara could say anything, Nagato ripped off his own headband and put it on the ground. He pulled out a kunai and scratched across the symbol, the anger was clear in his eyes.

"I'll join you..." Nagato suddenly spoke, eyes still looking down at the crossed out headband. He would not be loyal to the current Amegakure, not after what the leader had done. After a few moments of silence, he looked up at the masked man, eyes still filled with tears, but his expression didn't match the teary eyes.

His expression was blank, dead, emotionless, as if all the life had been sucked from his body and mind.

"Just tell me what I need to do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, this took me forever to write. My inspiration for it comes in small bursts, and during every small burst, I tried to write something. It's short compared to the others, but I hope the chapter isn't too boring! That was one thing I was worried about while writing this, but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Nagato was careful as he inserted the final chakra rod into the body of what was once his best friend. After piercing these into his body over a dozen times, it no longer mattered. At first, the process was painful. He cringed every time he pushed one in, felt pain at the idea of turning his friend into a puppet. He kept telling himself that he wasn't going to just be a puppet, but the leader. He would still lead, but Nagato would be pulling the strings. No, he had to erase that existence. He had to erase Nagato, he would no longer be Nagato after this day.

Once the last rod was inserted, Nagato leaned back in his new wheelchair, well as best as he could with the rods poking out of his back. It was only temporary until he could get something that allowed him to move around. It was a difficult adjustment. Just a couple weeks ago he was walking around, smiling with the group and helping the people of Ame. Now, here he was, sitting in a wheelchair, weakened and with crippled legs.

He glanced down at his legs, looking at the obvious burn scars left on them. He was fortunate that they weren't blown completely off, but they were useless. It would have been better if they were blown off, then he wouldn't have to look at them, wishing he could walk again. Standing was possible, with difficulty, but what was the point if he couldn't move?

He tried to think of positive things about all of this, but there were none. Nothing was positive about this twist in his life. Well, that wasn't completely true. If this had never happened, he would have never realized how naive he had been. Peace through negotiation and without violence? How could they ever think something so foolish would work? Yahiko was killed in his pursuit of peace, wasn't that proof enough that the world didn't want peace?

He moved himself away from the table he had Yahiko's body laying on. It was time to test the body. He concentrated on sending his chakra to the rods, finding it a bit difficult since it was new to him. He practiced with the chakra rods outside of the body, managing to connect them, but to connect it to a dead body and put his chakra into it was not easy.

After a few minutes of silent concentration, his chakra connected to the body. He let his chakra settle in the body for a while, before finally trying to move it. Some time passed of Nagato just sitting there, waiting for Yahiko's corpse to move, but eventually, the legs moved, and the body turned, slowly getting off the table it had been laying on. Nagato didn't move the body any further, because he was just staring at the corpse.

The eyes were open, and the eyes he saw were not the bright blue they had been before. Nagato expected this, but the sight still hurt. He wanted to stand up, he wanted to hug him, and he wanted to hope that maybe, just maybe, he would somehow squeeze the life back into him. A childish fantasy, one that Nagato brushed off. He had to get used to this, he had to get used to the fact that Yahiko would be his main puppet. The thought almost made him cringe, but on the outside, his expression remained blank.

After a few moments of Nagato simply staring and coping with all this, he moved the body once more. He controlled the body to walk towards one of the new cloaks he had hanging on the wall, set up specifically to test the body. The body walked to the cloak, and with difficulty, Nagato had the body slip on the cloak. Nagato was glad it worked well, but he knew it would take some getting used to.

There was a knock on the door and Nagato immediately knew who it was, he could sense him. "Come in."

* * *

Obito stepped into the room, now wearing an actual mask instead of having Spiral surround him like armor. When he walked in, he noticed Yahiko's corpse up and walking around.

_So he's already managed to control the body that well?_ He shouldn't be surprised, Nagato did possess Madara's Rinnegan, it made sense he'd master his powers quickly.

"Is there something you need, Madara?"

Nagato's voice brought his attention back to the redhead sitting in a wheelchair. He still had yet to get used to seeing Nagato in a wheelchair and being in such a weakened state. It was odd to see the boy he met just a few years ago in this condition, when just those years ago, he was completely healthy and in perfect condition.

"I came to see how your practice was going, and from what I'm seeing, it must be going well."

Nagato looked back over the corpse, and the body turned around and faced Obito. There was silence for a while, but then the mouth of the corpse opened, and Yahiko's voice spoke.

"It is."

When Obito looked over to Nagato again, he was sure he could see some pain in his eyes at the sound of the voice. He assumed that was Nagato practicing speaking through the body, but this practice was hurting Nagato. As much as the redhead tried to hide his suffering, Obito could tell. He understood what he was going through. He still wasn't over the death of Rin, so it would probably take time for Nagato to rid himself of the painful feelings.

Seeing Nagato like this just made him want to create the dream world even more. It was no longer just for himself, it was for Nagato. He swore that he would create a world where he could reunited with Yahiko, and that is what he planned to do.

"Keep practicing with the body, and when you can, we'll have a meeting about our first move." After saying this, Obito warped out of the room. If he stayed there any longer, he could end up breaking character and attempting to comfort Nagato. He couldn't let that happen.

Nagato was just a pawn in his plan, that was all.

* * *

He watched as Madara disappeared, knowing he would have to get used to that ability of his. Even though they had only been working together for about two weeks, he had already been startled more than once by that power. This mainly happened because he would appear in the room suddenly and speak, which Nagato never expected. At least this time he was polite enough to use the door.

He sighed and looked back at the body, and for the next few hours, he practiced. Since he wasn't used to using his chakra in such a way, it drained away quickly. He spent the entire day working on his control, slept, and then when the next day came, he decided to leave the room as the body.

Once again, he connected his chakra to the corpse, and then moved it to leave the room. The corpse walked just fine, the practice definitely paying off. Yahiko's body soon arrived to the main room, and through the body's eyes, Nagato could see Konan in there. He knew it would be a change, but she knew he what he was doing with the corpse. Nagato took a deep breath, preparing himself for any sort of reaction and had the corpse step into the room.

When Konan first noticed Yahiko's body, the blank look she had maintained for a while now broke. Her eyes were wide, filled with the pain Nagato felt as well. It didn't last long, she forced her expression back to normal, realizing what was going on as she looked into his eyes.

"Nagato...?"

The corpse gave a slow, careful nod.

"I think I've mastered controlling his body." Nagato cringed a little when he saw Konan's expression change at the sound of Yahiko's voice. Yet again, she forced her expression back to an emotionless one, much faster this time.

"That's good to hear, Nagato..." Her tone was... dead. Nagato hated how much pain this was causing her, but he knew this was the only way to keep Yahiko as the leader.  _Which reminds me..._

"Konan...please, don't call me Nagato when I'm using his body. Call me...Pein." Nagato decided this a couple days ago. He didn't want to hear his name when someone was speaking to Yahiko's corpse, he didn't want that weak person to exist anymore.

Her expression didn't change, instead, she gave a small, almost hesitant nod. "I understand, Pein."

It sounded wrong, oh so very wrong to be called by that name, but he'd soon fully accept it as his new name. Pein was who he was, who he would become, and Pein wouldn't be as naive as he'd been.

"Is Madara still here?" Pein asked, ready to discuss future plans with him.

"He's in the meeting room."

"Thank you, Konan. We should go see him." Pein turned away from his friend and started walking towards the meeting room. He heard Konan's footsteps follow after him, but didn't turn around, just continuing his short walk to the meeting room.

Madara was indeed inside the meeting room, standing there, as if he had been waiting there for them to arrive. He turned and looked over at the two that just arrived. If he was surprised to see Pein there instead of Nagato in a wheelchair, Pein couldn't tell. Madara only looked right at them and began speaking business right away.

"I see you're finally able to use that body." He first said before continuing on to a different topic. "First, as I mentioned before, we'll take out Hanzo so you can secure the position as leader of Amegakure." Nagato had refused to help with any of his plans until Hanzo was dead. "Have you already started to gather supporters?"

Pein gave a nod and looked over to Konan. "She's been speaking to the villagers in my place, gathering those who are against Hanzo's rule." Nagato himself hadn't been able to speak to them, so he let Konan have this job.

"Continue gathering supporters. This goal will eventually cause a civil war, you'll need as many as them as you can get." Madara seemed pleased enough with this. "I will aid you in this coming war when possible, but I will leave Hanzo to you."

"That is what I'd prefer, Madara." Pein agreed. He would be sure to make Hanzo regret his actions. He would be killed by the very man he caused the death of. Yahiko was the one who deserved his revenge, and Hanzo would die seeing the face of the one he killed. There was no other way, this was the death Pein chose for him, and he won't escape his fate.

"I will return in a couple weeks, and by then, I expect you to have enough supporters to begin the plans." They didn't need a large number of people to simply begin, and after it started and escalated, more villagers would join their cause to overthrow Hanzo.

"I understand, Madara." He refused to fail, and he would kill anyone in his way.

_Kill_... That word used to horrify him, when he was a child, when he was Nagato. He would never consider killing someone, and now, he was completely willing to.  _Oh, how things have changed..._

* * *

"S-Stay back!" The pathetic man cried out as he pushed his back up against the wall, trying desperately to stand, but he only fell back down. There was fear in his eyes as six figures stepped ever so slowly closer, as if they were only taking a casual stroll around the village.

The six pairs of eyes that stared down at him let off a faint glow in the dark, and they held no sympathy towards the injured man. The leader of Amegakure, a man who deserved no respect. His fate was decided, and now he was trying to escape it. Could he be anymore pathetic?

"Do you remember my face, Hanzo?" Pein asked, and as he spoke, the other five stopped just a step behind Pein. "This is the face of someone you  _killed_." He spoke words that should have sounded angry and vengeful, but the tone sounded almost disinterested.

Hanzo's eyes slowly widened in realization, and Pein could see everything he was feeling in that moment. Fear, confusion, perhaps even a little regret, but regret was worthless now.

"You're that boy! How is that..." He didn't understand, and Pein didn't want him to. He wanted him to die believing that he was killed by Yahiko, not by Nagato, but by the very one he killed.

"Hanzo the Salamander, you used to be a man worthy of respect, but look at you now." He gave a disappointed shake of his head, a chakra rod coming out of his sleeve, one that he gripped and pointed at Hanzo. "Die." That was his final word to him. It didn't take long at all, he was already cornered and Pein was merciful enough to give him a quick death. That was more than he deserved.

Now it was time for him to take over as the village leader, and recruit members for the new Akatsuki. It was finally time for the true plans to begin.

* * *

Finding members was a very slow process, they were lucky that Madara already had a few in mind, but finding two of them proved to be a challenge. The new Akatsuki was still small, and they had already started taking on very small, low profile missions. They needed money, and so it was the only way to keep their existence quiet and also earn profits. They had only just started the true plans, but the main parts wouldn't begin for quite some time. There were even periods of time when there weren't any new members to recruit.

This was one of those times.

For the past month, there had been zero mentions of high ranking criminals on the loose, or having recently left their village. Zetsu was still searching, but Nagato was somewhat thankful for these calm times. He was still trying to sort things out in Amegakure. Almost weekly he dealt with those still following Hanzo trying to find and kill him, but they never made it far. He always managed to exterminate them before they got even remotely close to where he hid.

However, today was a little different. Konan was out searching for information along with Zetsu, and even if she was reluctant to leave Nagato alone, he assured her that he was fine. Now that he could control more than one corpse, it was easier to take care of himself and deal with enemies. Unfortunately, after what happened, he wished Konan stayed.

There was another attack, that was nothing unusual, but during the battle, Nagato was forced to use a bit more chakra than he was used to for these attackers. He was still working on perfecting the amount of chakra he passed on to the six paths, and this time he made one little slip up, and now he was feeling the after-effects of that extra bit of missing chakra. He had an incredibly large chakra reserve, but even he could make one little mistake.

After the attack was over, Nagato planned to relax and recover his chakra, but a sudden pain in his chest stopped him from relaxing. It didn't take long for him to see what was wrong. Within the next minute, his hand flew up to his mouth, and he coughed. The coughing didn't stop, and he could taste blood. When he pulled his hand away, he could see nothing but red. His body was weak, it couldn't handle his small mistake, and now he was suffering for it.

He tried to move into a different room, somewhere he could wash out the blood, find something to ease the pain. He managed to move himself into a wheelchair he kept near by when not in his walker, but that was as far as he made it before he felt the pain again. He didn't cough up blood again, but he could feel himself losing consciousness. He was dizzy, he was tired, he was in pain, and he couldn't do anything to help himself.

He hoped that Konan would return soon, before his health was ruined further...

* * *

_I should visit him._ Obito sighed as he sat in what was currently considered his own hideout. Ever since Zetsu went off on his own, he'd been alone. While he did sometimes have business to take care of, this was one of those few times he had very little to do that wasn't related to his plans. He knew that Konan was also out and left Nagato alone, and so, that little thought popped into his head. It was rare when Konan was away from Nagato for such a long time, and it had been quite some time since he'd been able to speak to him alone.

After a bit of debate with himself, Obito decided to visit him. He'd think of something to talk about, related to Akatsuki business, of course. Anything other than that would be far too out of character. After making this decision, he warped himself to the tower where Nagato resided. He didn't bother to use the door, simply warping into the room. He'd probably have to hear about this later from Nagato about not using the door...

But as he stepped further in, it became incredibly apparent that something was wrong. First, Nagato wasn't in his walker. Second, and most alarming of all, there was blood on the floor. And finally, he could feel Nagato's chakra coming from the bedroom, it was weak. This was all he needed to know before stepping (it was closer to running) over to the bedroom and opening the door with a bit more panic than he meant to show.

There Nagato was, laying on his side on his bed, back facing Obito. His entire body was trembling, his breathing was deep and rough. It was easy to figure out what happened when he factored in his weakened chakra. He overexerted himself, and it seemed pretty severe.

Obito stepped towards Nagato silently, speaking up in what he hoped was an indifferent tone.

"What happened, Nagato?"

For a moment, Obito couldn't tell if Nagato was going to respond or not, or if he was even conscious, but his head turned and Rinnegan eyes looked directly at Obito. Even after he looked at him, there was silence for a long while, before Nagato turned his head away once more and finally spoke in a raspy voice.

"Used too much chakra... my body couldn't handle it..."

As he expected... At least it wasn't an attack, or something worse. But... now that he knew what happened... what did he plan to do? Honestly, Obito didn't know. He didn't have much medical knowledge, and there wasn't much he could do to help him. Logically, it was best to contact Konan and leave it to her, but...

"...I'll be back." Obito stood and left the room, searching around the tower for certain supplies. When he returned to Nagato, he was holding pain medicine, water, and a wet cloth. Even with his limited medical knowledge, he was doing what little he could, and maybe it'd be enough.

He set them down on the nightstand by the bed, then turned his attention back to Nagato, who still wasn't facing him. How much could he move in this state?

"Can you sit up on your own?"

Once again, there was silence, but fortunately his question was soon answered by Nagato slowly turned himself towards Obito, then sitting up as best as he could. Which wasn't much, he was practically still laying down. That wasn't good enough, if he didn't sit up enough then he'd end up choking on the pills or the water, or both.

He moved Nagato up a little further as gently as possible, and gentle was something he hadn't been in so long. Why was it now that he was being gentle? He thought he wasn't like that anymore...

Fortunately, Nagato didn't move much, and didn't protest when Obito had him take the pain medicine and drink water to help clean out the taste of blood in his mouth as well as make swallowing the pills easier. The wet cloth was used to clean up any remaining blood on him, which was mainly on his hands. After doing all this, he helped Nagato lay back down.

"You should rest now..." After saying this, he felt like he should have added on some reason for telling him to rest. Such as, needing him to be in perfect shape for some business in a couple days, but he didn't try to add it on. He let too much of how he actually felt slip already, there was no fixing that. Maybe Nagato would forget any of this even happened, he was pretty disoriented after all...

The redhead still remained silent, but soon closed his eyes and seemed to almost instantly drift into a deep sleep. His breathing was uneven, his body was still in pain, but the pain killers would help soon enough.

After a few minutes of waiting to make sure everything was fine, Obito knew it was time for him to leave. He hadn't expected to remain for so long, and it was possible Konan would return soon and demand an explanation from him.

However, before warping away, Obito found himself staring at the sleeping figure. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was running his gloved fingers through red hair. It was impulsive, and there was that feeling he felt when they were kids. That feeling he had after Nagato was knocked unconscious after protecting him from harm. He felt protective.

The moment he realized this he pulled his hand away as if Nagato was diseased. No... he couldn't be thinking like this. Nagato worked under him now, he was playing the role of Madara, Nagato was a pawn in his plans. He had to nail that into his brain.

He turned away from Nagato, and finally warped away. He could only hope that Nagato would forget any of that happened.

* * *

_What was that?_

Nagato laid in bed, staring straight up at the ceiling, very much awake. Madara just left, but not before... well, running his fingers through his hair. Nagato's hand shakily raised up to fix his hair, not understanding why he did that.

There was more to Madara than he was letting on. There was something Nagato wasn't understanding, and he felt like there was something he was missing...

Whatever this was, Nagato intended to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was the end of this slightly short chapter. I just really wanted to get this published and it felt like the perfect place to stop. Thank you for reading, and I hope the chapter was okay! I'd appreciate feedback, but just reading it is plenty good enough.
> 
> I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I'll hopefully have it up faster than this one. Once again, thank you, and I hope you stick around to watch these two try to kill their old selves while at the same time deal with confusing feelings!

**Author's Note:**

> So this story will actually be going through their life, even if it started off with their childhood. This will be a bit of a slow burn, and a relationship will take time. Thank you for reading!


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